A few questions for those that milk on a small level.

We use baby wipes to clean the udders before. Sometimes, we add alcohol to the wipes container, but lately, we've just been using the plain wipes. We spray with Fight Bac after milking.

We milk directly into the half gallon canning jar (through a milk filter). We used to chill the milk in ice water, but now we just stick it in the fridge, and I haven't noticed a quality difference.

As for cleanup, everything just goes in the dishwasher. No bleach, no acid wash, nothing special. Just the dishwasher. We've been doing this for three years and haven't had a problem. No milkstone buildup or anything like that. I used the dishwasher back when we were milking into a stainless steel milk pail too, and it worked fine.

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Mindy
www.hurryburry.com

Well then I guess I'm doing okay out there with all I've read here...I will be getting the Fight Bac though, and making up some wipes to take out there. I want to make some flannel ones with the wash mixture in a spray bottle that I can keep in a tupperware container...say a weeks worth at at time and then wash them. That should work fine, right? For now I'll use the antibacterial wipes that I have some left of.

Oh, and I've been filtering through 2 coffee filters. Is that enough? I haven't noticed anything getting through at all except the milk. It's been catching all those little icky's that just can't seem to stay out!

Thanks again ya'll!

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I use horse paste Ivermectin to worm, figure the goats wt. and double it and thats how much you give from the tube. I dose at between 250-300# for my does. Repeat in 10 days.
I put it on a piece of bread or cracker and they gobble it up.
Milk withdrawal is unnecessary. They worm people in 3rd world countries with the same stuff.
I've done the coffee filter method and horse paste for more than 8 years and we are healthier than ever.

I have a doe that freshened for the first time and have just recently started milking her. Needless to say those little teats are a pain! Anyway, she is a very fast eater and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of what I can do that might help slow down her eating.

Put a couple of big round rocks in the pan. She should have to nose around them to get to the feed.

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Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus

That's a good idea! Thank you!

Nana 2-7-- have the doe get used to waiting for you to finish. I milk 2 in the early a.m. and i have finally got the one that "inhales" her grain to just learn to wait. I do milk her first but when I move onto the next, she just has to wait without expecting more...it took a month!

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Vanessa
Lebanon, TN

Thanks Mpillow. I have horses and always have some paste left in the tube! I save it since I knew I could dose the goats with it, but I wanted to make sure of any withdrawel times that I may have needed to know.

Gotta run...it's milking time!

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Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. ~Mother Teresa

I wonder, why would you use a teat dip to prevent mastitis? because, when a baby is dam raised, you dont run out and teat dip after the baby is done drinking everytime, so what is the difference?

We use a plastic bucket to milk into which we wash in regular dish soap after each milking and let air dry. The bucket is used only for milking, nothing else.
We strain the milk into quart glass jars by folding a regular round strainer pad into a funnel and putting it in the jar opening. Then pop it in the fridge.
We do not prewash the udder, just give it a quick brush by hand before we milk.
We do not use any dips after milking.
We have never had a problem with bad milk or mastitis.
Our goats get either whole shell corn or goat chow in the bottom half of a plastic coffee can nailed down in front of their stanchion on the milking stand.
We used a feed with a wormer in it a while back but haven't done anything other than that as far as worms. We tether them a lot and their pasture is moved frequently.

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Deja Moo; The feeling I've heard this bull before.

I haven't read all of the responses yet, but I thought I'd add my routine too. I think you'll find that milking is like using cloth diapers. Everyone has there own system and there is no "wrong" way really.

When I go out to milk I take about a gallon of warm water with a squirt of Ivory dish washing liquid in a stainless steel bucket with a couple of old (but clean) wash clothes. I put my herd queen on the stand first, wring out one of the wash clothes and wipe down her udder and teats even if they don't look dirty because it also removes loose hairs. She seems to enjoy the warm water on a cold morning. I'll probably switch to cool water once it warms up outside. I do the same thing for my other goat.

I don't have the money to buy a lot of specialized equipment. You could spend $60 for a goat milking bucket with a fancy half-moon opening. You could, but I wouldn't. My milk pails are stainless steal utensil holders from WalMart. You know, the kind that sits on the kitchen counters? They're stainless steel and seamless so there is no place for bacteria to hide. They are the perfect width to go between a goat's back legs (I milk from behind) and the price is RIGHT!

When I've finished milking, I take some of the soapy water and pour it over the floor of my milkstand and use one of the wash clothes to rub away any goaty footprints. Most people don't wash the milkstand twice daily after each milking, but I do. I just like to set my pail on a clean surface.

In the house I strain the milk through a coffee filter that I've placed in a large stainless steel mesh strainer. The milk strains into a 4 cup glass measuring cup so that I have some idea of how much milk I'm getting. Then it goes into the fridge. I don't pasteurize the milk for my kids.

And that's how I do it.

RedTartan

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I use a stainless steel carrying tote from Caprine Goat Supply. Last spring I bought a ss milking pail from Hoeggers--the one in the milking kit that's sold with a half-moon lid, a strainer, and filters--and the handle broke off after only using it for about two months. I really like the carrying tote, though. It just looks the part.

I mix up warm water with a bit of Dawn dish soap and a paper towel. If I'm feeling all energetic I might add a few drops of tea tree oil or grapefruit seed extract but that is the exception. I clean the teats off with the wet paper towel.

After milking I bring the milk inside to cool it. I pour it through the strainer (I find this system, with the filters, much faster than the coffee filter route, although that works in a pinch) into a Mason jar, then put it into a pan of ice water.

Right now it's still pretty cool outside. In the heat of summer I'll probably step up the cool-down process.

I do have the powdered soap from Hoegger's that I use. Also, I wash the milking supplies right away because I read that you can get bacteria buildup fairly easily otherwise.